


Where the Mirrors Don't Lie

by pinkevilbob



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Multi, Self-Indulgent, and then they break one and find out their families not fully human?, but it's important enough that i felt justified in tagging it, ok so you know the movies where like the kid growing up has to live by like these strict rules, that's this fic's genre, widojest is a background ship, widojest kids - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23185168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkevilbob/pseuds/pinkevilbob
Summary: Alby would be among the first to admit that his childhood memories were odd ones. His childhood was not the most normal one with just his dad and four siblings. The earliest memory Alby ever had was of being told never to take off his necklace. Each of his siblings had one and they were all told to keep them on at all times. It was one of those things that didn't strike Alby as strange until he was an adult.And then his necklace broke.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast, Original Male Character/Original Nonbinary Character
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I'm writing again about my Widojest child Alby, but this time I promise that Caleb and Jester will be important.

Alby would be among the first to admit that his childhood memories were odd ones. His childhood was not the most normal one with just his dad and four siblings. The earliest memory Alby ever had was of being told never to take off his necklace. Each of his siblings had one and they were all told to keep them on at all times. It was one of those things that didn't strike Alby as strange until he was an adult.

His strangest memory had to be of the last time he'd seen his mother. She was beautiful and bright, but she was also always gone. Alby's dad would tell them stories about her and how much she loved them, and usually Alby believed them, but sometimes he wondered. The last time he'd seen her she came with Alby's baby sister, Lina.

Alby was supposed to be asleep, but he couldn't sleep so he snuck out of the room he shared with his big brother, Harley. Papa looked so surprised when Mama came in holding the tiny bundle that was Lina. Their voices were too soft for Alby to hear from the hallway, but there was something bothering them. Mama was the one to notice Alby watching them. She'd scooped him up and gave him a kiss. "There's my strong boy. Now while I'm gone, I'm going to have to ask you to help your papa. He's going to need your help."

"When will you come back?" Alby asked.

"Sooner than you'll miss me." It was what she said every time and Alby frowned at it. He missed her already. Mama stroked his cheek. "Hopefully soon."

Alby stared up at her. "You're leaving already?"

"I wish I didn't have to," Mama said.

"Mama loves you very much," Papa said. "And she wouldn't leave if she didn't have to."

She gave Alby one more hug. "I love you more than anything." Mama stood up and kissed Papa. "Keep them safe."

Papa nodded. "Of course. You keep safe too."

"I always do." And Alby never saw her again. But that was not the strange part.

The strange part was that his mother was blue in that memory.

* * *

The bakery was quiet. Alby liked it when the bakery was quiet, when it was mostly just him. There was a part-timer there, but she was working in the back while Alby tidied up in the front. Not that it was bad when it was busy, but he preferred the quiet. It let him think. He wasn't the most skilled thinker, so he liked the long quiet moments to do it. The current thought occupying Alby's head was the return of his older brother, Harley, in a few days. Alby was pretty certain that he was looking forward to it, but Harley could be a lot to handle at times.

Over the front door, the bell rang signalling the entry of a customer. Alby looked up from his thoughts and welcomed the distraction. The customer was short, even shorter than Alby's 14 year-old sister. They were several inches short of 5 feet if Alby had to guess. Their hair was long and dark brown. It was also disheveled and covered part of their brown face. Nervously, they approached the counter with a notebook and pencil in hand. Faster than Alby had seen anyone write before, their pencil flickered across the page. "Do you have cinnamon bear claws here?"

Alby nodded and signed "Yes." The customers' eyes grew wide. "Do you sign?" Alby fingerspelled out. It'd been a while since he'd used it. When he was a kid, Alby couldn't always talk. Papa said it was called selective mutism. Harley called it frustrating. But Papa made sure that they all knew at least some sign language, so Alby could talk no matter what.

"Yes," they signed back. "You don't have to though. I can hear." They spelled it all out much to Alby's relief. He was fluently in spelling, but he was very rusty in ASL as a whole.

"Oh," Alby said out loud. "Is it easier for you if I speak?"

They nodded and spelled, "A little."

“okay," Alby said. "You wanted cinnamon bear claws, right? Are you from Nicodranas?"

The customer shook their head. "No, but a friend of mine was. They said I had to try bear claws with cinnamon."

Alby grinned. "They're right. Best way to make them." He stepped behind the display and slid it open. "How many would you like?"

They started to sign something but stopped themself. Their hands carded their hair as they looked away.

"Do you want to see if you like them first?" Alby asked,

Hesitantly, they nodded. There was something skittish about them that reminded Alby of a weasel his family had when he was young.

"Okay. One cinnamon bear claw coming up." Alby moved slowly and with deliberate motions signaling every action just like he did with Sprinkle the weasel. He put the bear claw into a little paper bag and handed it to the mute customer.

They reached for their wallet.

"Oh, no charge," Alby said. "It's not often I have someone asking for Nicodranian pastries." He probably shouldn't have been giving away food so early in the day, but they seemed like someone who could do with some kindness.

"Thank you," they signed.

He smiled at them. "You're welcome." A strange tickling itched at the back of his neck and then he heard a gentle tinkling sound at his feet. Alby looked down to see his pendant necklace on the floor, its chain broken. "Uh oh." Kneeling down, Alby picked the necklace up careful to get both the chain and the pendant and froze. His hands were blue.

Alby got up and stumbled backwards. His arms were blue too. He caught his distorted reflection in the glass of the display case. All of him was blue. Panicking more than thinking, Alby dashed for the bathroom and locked himself in there not bothering to turn on the light.

Something was wrong; something was terribly terribly wrong. He felt sick to his stomach. A knock rapped on the door. "Are you alright, chief?" the part-timer asked.

"Did you see anything?" Alby asked.

"Nah, just heard you. You sick?" she asked.

Alby gulped down some bile. "Yeah. I'm, I'm going to have to leave early."

"Kiri's here for her shift in half an hour, but I can hold down the fort till then."

"Thanks," Alby said. He couldn't just stay there, but there was no way he could leave the bathroom looking the way he did. Alby pulled his phone out of his pocket and nearly fumbled it dropping it to the floor. Taking a steadying breath, Alby dialed home. The phone rang a couple of times before it was picked up. "Hallo?" Papa asked.

Alby heaved out a sigh of relief. "Papa? Papa, something happened."

"What? What's the matter?"

"I don't know. I feel sick. My necklace broke," Alby said. He didn't know where to begin. "The chain, it just snapped and it broke."

Papa hummed. "I see. I'll get you a new chain." He was concerned but didn't seem too worried.

"Papa, something's wrong with me," Alby admitted. "There's something wrong."

"There's nothing wrong with you Alby," Papa said. "This is just something we'll need to take care of."

Alby gulped hard. "You don't understand. I'm not me anymore. I don't look right. Something's wrong."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. "Alby, you've taken your necklace off before, haven't you?"

"No, you said we were never to take them off. Did I do something wrong?" Alby asked. He felt wrong.

Papa swore in zemnian. "Nein, nein, you did nothing wrong. I'll get there as fast as possible. You're going to be okay."

"Okay Papa," Alby said. But nothing felt okay about it.

"Just don't panic. I love you," Papa said.

Alby hung up the phone without saying anything. The feeling of bile coursing up his throat built again, and he felt like if he dared to open up his mouth he'd get it all over the floor. He rubbed his head and stopped. Out of the side of his head were bony protrusions. The urge to vomit only grew and he rushed to the toilet heaving into it. Wiping his mouth when he was done, Alby stood up. There was no more putting it off.

He turned the light on and squinted at the brightness of it. Alby gathered his nerve and looked into the mirror. Looking back at himself was a monster, but a recognizable one. It was Alby's familiar round face and beard, but the colors were all wrong. The blue of his arms was on his face and his mohawk and beard was now a dark purple instead of a brownish auburn. Curled horns like those of a sheep grew out of the sides of his head. "This is not good," Alby whispered. Flashes of fangs caught his eye when he spoke. There was the temptation to ignore them, but Alby opened his mouth wider and there indeed were sharp fangs punctuating his teeth. Meanwhile his tongue was forked.

Not being able to take it anymore, Alby turned off the lights again. He could still see in the room despite the near complete darkness in it. Crouching down in the corner, he rested his head on his knees. There was an uncomfortable tightness in his pants and when he adjusted them a tail popped out. "What am I?" Alby asked, but there was no answer.


	2. Chapter 2

Caleb rushed to the bakery as quickly as he could. Fortunately, he’d kept extra necklace chains around the house for just this kind of emergency. He sighed as he got out of the car in front of the bakery. Of all the ways for Alby to find out.

Alby had always been the most sensitive of his siblings and the best behaved, but that wasn’t saying much when being compared to Una or Harley. Caleb had thought that Alby had already tried taking his necklace off. The rest of the kids had taken them off long before they graduated high school. He’d never considered the possibility of one of his children actually listening to him during their teen years. And life was punishing Alby for it.

The part-timer at the front counter waved at Caleb. “Alby’s in the bathroom.” Most of the staff at the bakery were familiar with Caleb since he’d often gave Alby rides to and from work.

“Danke.” Caleb went into the back of the bakery and knocked on the bathroom door. “Alby? I brought you some medicine.” It was mostly for the sake of the part-timer, but Caleb did bring some stomach medicine in case Alby really was ill. He set the medicine, necklace chain, and a water bottle next to the door.

“Thanks,” Alby mumbled. The door creaked open a hair, but it then closed again. “Can you look away?”

Caleb’s heart broke. Alby sounded so lost and dejected. “Ja, I’ll keep an eye out.” He turned away and made sure that the part-timer stayed in the front.

The door opened and closed. After a long quiet moment, Alby muttered something behind the door and there were the sounds of movement in the bathroom.

“Are you okay in there?” Caleb asked.

“Just having trouble with the clasps,” Alby said.

“I could step in and help you if you’d like,” Caleb offered. He was more than a little curious to see what his son looked like.

“I’m fine,” Alby said flatly. After a couple of minutes, Alby stepped out of the bathroom looking the same as he did everyday. No, Caleb amended that part. Alby looked miserable.

Caleb sighed. “Are you ready for me to take you home?”

Alby nodded. “Yeah.”

“Alright,” Caleb said, leading the way to the car.

Alby quietly climbed into the car and stared out the window occasionally rubbing at the sides of his head.

Caleb silently started the car. There were a hundred things running through his head that he wanted to say, that he should say, but finding the first one was difficult.

“Papa.” Alby’s voice was faint and distant like he was hundreds of miles away. “What’s wrong with me?”

“There’s-” Caleb sighed. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”

Alby shook his head. “Papa, I turned into a monster. I’m not dumb enough to not notice that.”

Caleb came to a sharp stop at the stoplight. “Never call yourself that. No child of your mother is a monster.”

“I had horns,” Alby blurted out. “And fangs and a tail and my tongue was split and my color was wrong.” Tears welled up in his eyes.

Leaning over, Caleb went to rest a hand on Alby’s arm, but Alby jerked away from him. “Alby, believe me, there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re just like your mother. That’s all.”

Alby stared at him. “I am? She was?” He left the question hanging in the air, but Caleb knew what he meant.

“Ja. She was. When first met-” HOOONNNNKKK!!! The light had turned green and the car behind them had no patience for important family discussions. Caleb cursed in Zemnian and continued driving. “I was scared when I first saw your mother. There’s stories of humans not being alone here and I had always thought that they were just that, stories. But your mother has a talent for proving me wrong. Jester was, is, incomparable.”

“She was blue,” Alby said slowly. “I remembered that. The last time I saw her. She gave Lina to you and she was blue.”

Caleb nodded. “Ja, your mother, she had a type of magic that could disguise herself, but it’d fade for a little while sometimes.”

“Harley and Una called me a liar when I told them. They teased me for a whole week about it.”

“Una didn’t take off her necklace, that’s what keeps you disguised and safe, for the first time until Lina was nearly two,” Caleb said. He rubbed his chin. “It’s a hard thing to believe if you haven’t seen it for yourself.”

Alby sat up straighter. “But you said that we were never to take off our necklaces. It was a rule.”

Caleb frowned. “Ja, but it was a rule that I knew you would each break one day, and then I, or one of your older siblings, would be there to answer your questions for you. I’d thought that you’d taken your necklace off years ago and just gone to Una.” It was a terrible mistake and one that Caleb was probably never going to forgive himself for.

“I hadn’t,” Alby said. He sounded so hurt and lost.

Who would’ve thought that the biggest obstacle Caleb would face would be an obedient child? “I know. I should’ve just told you.”

Alby nodded. “Yeah. So we’re all like this?”

“Nein, only you, Una, and Oskar. Even without their necklaces, Lina and Harley look the same.” Their necklaces were more of a safety precaution more than anything else and it was easier to explain all the children having the same necklace than just three of them.

“Of course Harley’s normal,” Alby said. Caleb could almost hear his eyes rolling. “I know that wasn’t fair of me, but this isn’t fair.”

Caleb had to agree with that. “I know, none of this is fair. I wish your mother was here to explain all this.” Jester would know exactly what to say to make Alby smile again.

“Why isn’t she here?” Alby asked. “Where is she?”

“I was dreading that question. There’s … people who want nothing more than to get their hands on her. So she has to hide. To stay safe and keep you safe.” Caleb shuddered at the thought of what would happen if Alby or any of his children were caught. “As for where she is, I don’t know. It’s safer that way.”

Ably slumped a little in his chair. “I miss her.”

“Ja, I do too.”

* * *

Alby went straight to his room when he got home. Technically it was his, Harley’s, and Oskar’s room, but Oskar was away earning his Master’s in library sciences and Harley wasn’t due to come home from his latest voyage for a few more days. It was a small room mostly taken up by two beds squashed in together and a couple of mismatched dressers that were probably older than Oskar was.

The bed further from the door was the more comfortable one of the two. When they were still in their teens, the three of them would fight over who got to sleep on it. Alby crawled over to it and the top sheet over his head. All he wanted to do was to just sleep so hard the day was erased.

He had no luck though. Just as Alby was falling asleep his phone buzzed loudly waking him up. It was a text from Una. “how you doing? Papa said that your having a rough day”

Alby was tempted to ignore it, but that would just make Una worry about him more. “I’m fine.”

“You sure? Papa sounded worried,” Una texted back.

Calling Una to check on him felt like cheating. Una was the oldest of them and the easiest for Alby to confide to. She never judged him and rarely sided with Harley(not that that was a factor in this case, but something Alby appreciated in general). “What did papa tell you?”

“Just that you had a bad day”

If Papa was going to cheat, then Alby could cheat too. ”Just stressed about harley coming back.” It was easy to lie over text.

“Ah. can’t say i’m surprised. I know he can be frustrating but you know hes all talk. Give him three days and he’ll calm down and things willl come back to mormal”

“Your probably right,” Alby texted. He was almost tempted to tell the truth, but she had enough on her plate with getting married in the summer and having her two kids.

“I usually am. Look if hes giving you crap let me know. Ill take care of him for you.”

Alby smiled at his phone. “Thanks.”

“Np. youve always got me on your side”

His smile faded and Alby turned off his phone. How was anyone on his side if they didn’t even bother to tell him the truth?


	3. Chapter 3

Being back on land after 6 months at sea was weird. Just when Harley had gotten used to the constant swaying of the ship, he was back to stumbling about again. He was still glad to be on land again and to not be stuck in a small box with the same people for six months, but it would be nice to not trip every five minutes.

In past years, Harley would spend a night or two at a hotel spending time with his crewmates he still could stand to look at before going home, but this year was different. He and his ship had an amazing season of crabbing and Harley had big news to share that just couldn’t wait.

Harley got home at midnight, so technically his news had to wait. He left his bags in his car figuring that they’d still be there in the morning. Skipping the second board on the porch that always squeaked, Harley went inside and immediately was hit by a wave of nostalgia. The old house really hadn’t changed. It still smelled of bread, paints, and home, and it still creaked slightly in the wind.

A door opened as Harley went down the hallway. “You’re home early.” His dad stood in the doorway of his room wearing the same old shabby pajamas he always wore. Una would get him a new pair of pajamas every year for Christmas and every year Papa would thank her, set the new pair aside, and keep wearing his old ones. Harley was fairly certain that the pajamas were older than Lina. Grinning, Papa pulled Harley into a hug. His smell hadn’t changed either, still smelling like books and cats.

“Yeah,” Harley said, not letting go. “Couldn’t wait to get home.”

“Hmm. We’ve missed you here,” Papa said. He let go and ruffled Harley’s hair.

Harley ducked away balking and smoothing his hair back into place. “Papa! I’ve missed you too,” he said with a smile.

“Come on. You have to tell me all about your travels and where you’ve been. I’ll make you some hot chocolate,” Papa said, already heading to the kitchen.

“With cinnamon?” Harley asked.

Papa chuckled. “Like anyone here would ever let me forget the cinnamon.”

It was nice to sit at the old table and talk while Papa puttered around the kitchen. Finally, Papa set down two mugs on the table making it wobble a little. “So, tell me,” Papa said, “what are your plans now?”

Harley grinned into his coco. It was so tempting to just spill the beans right away, but this was something he wanted to announce to everyone. “Well, I was going to see if I could get my waitering job back this week.”

“Was it a bad year for crabs?”

“No, I did well, but you know me, I can’t stay still and it’s been too long since I’ve talked to anyone other than Halibut Harry,” Harley said.

Papa grinned. “You’ve always been ready to talk someone’s ear off.”

Harley rolled his eyes while taking a big sip of his cocoa. “I’m not that bad.”

“I have old report cards that say otherwise,” Papa said.

“Of course, you do.” Harley yawned.

Papa got up. “I’ll take care of the mugs. You go to bed.” He paused. “And try not to wake up your brother.”

“I won’t.” Harley snorted. Not even an hour home and the old routines were starting already.

“He’s had a rough day.” Papa seemed like there was something more he wanted to say, but he stopped himself. “Just be patient with Alby.”

Harley paused as he got up. Like his day hadn’t been rough? “Sure,” he said rolling his eyes.

“His necklace fell off,” Papa said flatly.

This caught Harley completely off guard. “What?”

“The chain broke. That happens sometimes. I used to replace your chains when you were little while you were asleep.”

“Did anyone see him?” Harley asked.

Papa stared at him. “I hadn’t thought to ask.”

Harley frowned. That should’ve been the first thing anyone thought of. “I’ll ask him then.”

“Harley,” Papa said sternly. “You leave that to me. No need to stir up trouble on your first day home.”

“Trouble? Me? I’d never dream of it.”

* * *

Alby woke up at 3 AM yawning despite the fact that he’d slept since the previous afternoon. Not bothering to open his eyes, he crawled over to his dresser only to put his hand on something weird.

“AAAGUKAHHHH!” Harley sat bolt upright. “What the heck!? What are you doing?”

“Getting ready for work. I didn’t know you were home already,” Alby said. His shoulders dropped low. He’d been expecting a few more days to prepare for Harley’s return.

Harley yawned with a groan. “It was supposed to be a surprise. Thought you’d get out of bed or turn a light on at least.”

“Light would’ve woken you up too,” Alby said as he pulled out his work clothes.

“Nah, I can sleep through light or noise. But a hand to the face is a completely different story,” Harley said. “What time is it even?”

Alby took off his shirt and put on a work one. “Three AM.”

Harley snorted. “That’s not a time, it’s a punishment.”

"If you want bread fresh, it's a time," Alby said. "Go back to sleep."

"Nope. I'm wired now, so can't sleep. You still don't have a license, right?" Harley asked.

Alby could feel a blush growing on his face. "No, I don't."

"I'll take you to work then," Harley said. "That way you don't have to wake up Papa."

"I could just take my bike," Alby grumbled.

Halrey laughed. "Seriously? So early in the night and you want to bike? Come on, it's been too long since we've seen each other. This will make for some great brotherly bonding."

Alby rolled his eyes. "We can bond during the day."

"Or we could bond in the car where you can't run and hide," Harley said. "’Sides, I want to hear how you're doing."

"I've been baking," Alby said.

Harley sighed. "You've must've done more than just baking."

"Not really. I like baking."

"You are so hopeless," Harley said. "Tell you what, tonight when you get off work and before Papa starts his shift at the pharmacy, I'll take everyone out to dinner. My treat."

Alby shrugged as he got his pants on. "I don't know if I'll be up to it. Work's been rough this week."

"Papa told me as much," Harley said. Was there anyone that Papa didn't tell?

"It's fine. I'm taking care of it," Alby said.

Harley got up with a tut and turned the lights on. "And I'll take care of you then. Come on, you'll have more time for breakfast if you just let me take you to work."

Alby shook his head. "I don't eat for a couple of more hours. Too early."

"You got that right," Harley said. "I could make you cocoa before you go."

A laugh escaped Alby. "You haven't been gone long enough for me to forget how terrible of a cook you are. I'll make you coco."

"Papa made me some when I got home," Harley said. "But I'll take you up on your offer."

"You got it." Alby led the way to the small kitchen/dining room.

Harley hovered in the kitchen. That meant he wanted to talk about something that he thought that Alby didn't want to. "What is it?" Alby asked, not looking up from his pot of cocoa.

"What makes you think something's up?" Harley asked.

Alby shrugged. "I don't know. But something's up."

Harley sighed. "Your chain broke yesterday."

Alby froze in the stirring of the cocoa. "Papa told you?"

"Relax, he just told me to make sure I didn't give you crap or wake you up," Harley said. "Look, that sucks. I don't know what it's like, but I can get that it sucks. Did you talk to Una or Oskar about it?"

"Kinda," Alby said.

Harley huffed. "So you didn't. We just worry about you."

"You don't need to. I'm fine," Alby said.

"Sure, you are. You're so fine that the cocoa's smoking."

Alby swore as he pulled the pot away from the burner. “Ahh!” He hurriedly turned off the burner. “You were distracting me.”

Harley rolled his eyes. “Sure I was.” He leaned against the counter with his arms folded. “Just tell me, did anyone see you?”

“Did anyone - oh no.” A jolt of realization hit Alby. “There was a customer in the bakery when it happened.”

“F#$%!” Harley shouted, making Alby jump. “What were you thinking letting someone see you?”

Alby took a step back. “I didn’t mean for it to break. I didn’t even touch my necklace or anything. It just broke.”

Harley rubbed his forehead. “Fine, but you need to take this seriously. The safety of this family is at stake.”

“I’m sorry,” Alby said, but he didn’t fully know why he needed to apologize. It was beyond his control. He turned away to wash the pot. The cocoa was beyond saving.

“Mom sacrificed a lot to keep us safe,” Harley said after a long moment of silence. “Don’t throw that away.”

“I won’t,” Alby muttered as he finished scrubbing the pot.

Harley grabbed his keys. “Come on. I’ll take you to work.”

Alby nodded fighting a scowl. Of course Harley would remember to ask the important questions before Alby did. Of course Harley was always right. But, being upset at Harley for being better than him helped nothing. “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I really hope you guys are liking these OCs because fairly soon Caleb's probably going to not pop up for a few chapters.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to thank Eyeloch for enabling and encouraging me.


End file.
